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Football Stadium DigestFootball Stadium Digest covers major stories and events in the planning, construction and operations of NCAA and professional NFL football stadiums across the United States and Canada.

UNLV to Consider Future of Sam Boyd Stadium

With its football program set to leave Sam Boyd Stadium in the coming years, UNLV is weighing is options for the facility’s site.

The UNLV Rebels are expected to eventually move into the new Las Vegas stadium that is being planned for the Oakland Raiders. Though the opening of that venue is several years away, UNLV wants to begin planning ahead to see what its options are for the more-than-69-acre site that Sam Boyd Stadium occupies.

On Thursday, the Nevada Board of Regents will consider potential options for the site’s future. The idea of converting the site into a facility for the Raiders appears to be off the table, but UNLV officials believe current market conditions could give the university numerous options. More from The Las Vegas Sun:

[UNLV senior vice president for finance and business Gerry] Bomotti identified the potential sale of the land for development and a possible land swap with Clark County as options for the parcels. The county transferred ownership of the stadium land to the regents in 1985 and still owns another adjacent 92 acres that is leased to the regents for Sam Boyd parking. County officials did not have much interest in such a trade in discussions two years ago, Bomotti said, but local real estate and development conditions have improved drastically since then.

“The whole gamut of options is open,” Bomotti said.

One idea initially identified but later scrapped would have explored whether the Raiders might want the stadium and land for a practice facility, but that consideration ended quickly.

“The Raiders don’t like that location,” Bomotti said. “It’s so far off as what they see as the beaten path. They’re looking at some other locations, as I understand it.”

Planning for the new Las Vegas stadium continues, as the Raiders and local officials are still looking to begin construction by January 2018, in hopes of opening the facility in June 2020. That would allow the stadium to be ready in time for the seasons of both the Raiders and UNLV. Sam Boyd Stadium has been the UNLV football program’s home since 1971.